Harpal Singh Bedi
Indian shooter put up a disappointing show as India finished with a solitary bronze medal bagged by Prithviraj Tondaiman in the trap event at theISSF Shotgun World Cup Lonato in Italy
Prithviraj finished third in the final with 34 points. Britain’s Nathan Hales won the gold medal with 49 points while Qi Ying of China bagged the silvermedal with 48 points. A total of six shooters qualified for the men’s trap final.
Earlier, The Indian had finished third in the qualifying round with 122 points. The 36-year-old scored 23, 25, 24, 25, 25 in the five-round qualification series. Paris 2024 Olympicsquota winner Bhowneesh Mendiratta and Zoravar Singh Sandhu failed to progress beyond the qualification stage in the men’s trap event.
Bhowneesh Mendiratta finished 16th with 120 points while Zoravar Sandhu was 66th with 115 points. Lakshjeet Sindhu and Lakshay were shooting for ranking points.
This was Prithviraj’s second individual ISSF World Cup medal, having won a bronze in Doha in March.
Meanwhile in the women’s trap event, none of the Indians managed to progress beyond the qualification round. 2018 Commonwealth Games champion, Shreyasi Singh, finished 36thwith 111 points while Manisha Keer (111 points) and Rajeshwari Kumari (106) were 39th and 58th, respectively. Pragati Dubey and Kirti Gupta were shooting for the ranking points.
In the skeet events, too, the Indians put on a dismal performance. In the men’s skeet, two-time Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan finished 116th in qualifying with 112 pointswhile Angad Vir Singh Bajwa was placed 74th with 117 points. Anant Jeet Singh Naruka (119 points) and Gurjoat Khangura (116 points) finished 55th and 82nd, respectively.
Ganemat Sekhon and Darshna Rathore, competing in the women’s individual skeet event, also failed to reach the finals. Ganemat Sekhon (120 points) finished ninth to miss the medal round by a solitary point while Darshna Rathore finished 65th with 104 points. Maheshwari Chauhan was 36th with 114 points.
In skeet mixed team, the pair of Ganemat Sekhon and Anant Jeet Naruka was knocked out in the qualification round after finishing in 19th position. The other pair of Darshna Rathore and Gurjoat Khangura finished 21st. Overall, India finished ninth in the medals tally which was topped by the USA with two golds and one silver.
The ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Italy was a qualifying event for the Paris Olympics.